Spano facing campaign finance scandal

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THE TOPLINES

FINANCE TROUBLES — Rep.-elect Ross Spano is being hampered by a looming campaign finance scandal. POLITICO Florida’s Marc Caputo: “Spano is struggling to hire office staff as he relies on a controversial adviser: one of the friends at the center of a campaign finance scandal that is rocking the Florida Republican. Spano, an attorney and outgoing state legislator with past financial troubles, recently admitted in a letter to the Federal Election Commission that he might have committed a campaign finance ‘violation’ in failing for two months to disclose $180,000 he accepted from two friends. Spano, who personally loaned his campaign $174,500, says the funds he received were loans. …

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“Spano’s troubles are likely to intensify in the coming months. Two of Spano’s opponents, former Republican state Rep. Neil Combee and Democrat Kristen Carlson, have called on the FBI to investigate because, they say, he willfully and knowingly broke campaign finance law by acting as a straw donor for his own campaign. A bipartisan chorus of critics also say the House Ethics and Elections Committee needs to examine the case once Spano is seated.”

DATA WARS — The battle over who will house the theoretical warehouse of Democratic data continues. POLITICO’s Alex Thompson: “Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman has teamed up with several former Obama administration officials to create an independent — and likely for-profit — database that would store all of the progressive community’s voter data, according to three sources familiar with the initiative. The project's backers intend to spend $35 million in the first year alone, with Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, as the primary investor. …

“The DNC’s top leaders have been telling people that Hoffman’s project represents an ‘existential threat’ to the party, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions.”

IN THE TRENCHES

FACE OF THE PARTY — Women in the House Republican conference are frustrated that the party isn’t doing enough to address the declining number of women in their ranks. POLITICO’s Rachael Bade and Sarah Ferris: “Several Republican women are preparing their own plans to help their female colleagues, support women candidates and woo suburban women just in case nobody listens. [Missouri Rep. Ann] Wagner, for example, is about to relaunch a ‘suburban caucus’ in the House. The group will craft an agenda aimed at winning back suburban women by promoting issues like paid family leave and child care tax credits. …

“Some women like Wagner are still frustrated that the gravity of the situation has yet to sink in, arguing that 'I have seen no sign' of reflection. Even [New York Rep. Elise] Stefanik is pushing her colleagues to conduct an 'autopsy' of what happened and why they lost so many female voters and lawmakers this year. ‘The next election should have started the night of Nov. 7, that’s how passionate and dedicated to it I am in moving toward building a conference that looks more like America — and certainly adding more women and diversity to our numbers,’ Wagner said in a recent interview. ‘And if they get around to doing an autopsy and ‘lessons learned’ discussion, then great. But there are a number of us who are just going to forge ahead.’”

GETTING READY — Democrat Dan McCready is getting ready for a special election in NC-09. “We're gearing up right now in case we do have a special election. This is in the hands of the North Carolina State Board of Elections that’s launched an investigation,” McCready said on MSNBC.

— Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the North Carolina GOP, praised reporters for their work in the district. “Your work is not done. It can’t be done when the 9th District election is settled. Serious efforts at reform can only succeed when everyone works to fix the systematic failures that allowed the rampant criminal behavior to become common accepted practice,” he wrote in a The Raleigh News & Observer op-ed.

PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD — Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) team is quietly laying the groundwork for her 2020 machine. POLITICO’s Natasha Korecki: “Her aides have been quietly shopping for presidential campaign headquarters space in the Boston area in recent weeks, according to a source with knowledge of the move. All that’s left is for her to give the green light. …

“One major player already is Dan Geldon, a longtime Warren staffer and onetime Harvard Law School student under Warren who also served as her Senate chief of staff for three years. Sources with knowledge of the campaign say the senator is eyeing Geldon to take on the role of campaign manager. Other core staffers likely to be part of a Warren presidential team are finance director Michael Pratt; former Harry Reid aide Kristen Orthman, who handles communications; Gabrielle Farrell, who most recently headed communications for the New Hampshire Democratic Party; and Roger Lau, campaign manager for Warren’s Senate reelection who also has New Hampshire experience. The campaign-in-waiting is working with the mail firm Deliver Strategies, and the digital firms Bully Pulpit and Blue State.”

— Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick isn’t running for president, but that doesn’t mean he’s sitting out the process entirely. BuzzFeed News’ Darren Sands: “His exit from the primary seems to now cement his status as one of the party’s elder statesmen who younger Democrats can lean on for advice and guidance. Patrick said he ‘loves the fact’ the primary will be highly competitive, and has already begun to field calls from potential candidates who want to get together to pick his brain and share ideas.”

— Supporters of President Donald Trump are working to head off any potential primary challengers he might face in New Hampshire. POLITICO’s Christopher Cadelago: “In the most far-reaching move, Trump’s allies are looking to scrap the state GOP’s tradition of remaining neutral in the primary — to clear the way for an endorsement of the president. They’re also moving to install one of their own as head of the state Republican Party. The efforts wouldn’t stop a moderate Republican like John Kasich from taking on Trump. But they are designed to shield the president from the kind of damage that a serious primary fight could do to him heading into the general election.”

ALEXANDER'S DECISION — Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has some favorable reading material to pore over while he mulls whether to run for reelection. He has a 65 percent favorable rating and 69 percent job approval among likely primary voters, according to a new internal poll from North Star Opinion Research obtained by POLITICO’s Burgess Everett. Alexander faced a primary challenge in 2014 after he voted for comprehensive immigration reform but was able to win handily.

THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND — New NRCC chair Tom Emmer is already laying out the potential battlefield for 2020. National Journal's Ally Mutnick and Kyle Trygstad: "Emmer said his target list will include many of the 31 Democrats in Trump-won seats. He identified Oklahoma's 5th District, Illinois's 14th District, New York's 11th and 22nd Districts, and Virginia's 2nd and 7th Districts as some obvious offensive opportunities. However, the majority of Trump-district Democrats are in predominantly urban and suburban seats where the president's popularity has tended to sag.

"He intends to effect some structural change within the committee to allow for more member input, particularly in fundraising and recruitment. And he described plans to further decentralize NRCC operations through more-robust regional leadership teams that could divide some operations based on rural, suburban, and urban areas in each region."

SITTING IT OUT — After a painful fight between different wings of the Democratic party, the DNC is trying to burnish its image as a neutral arbiter for 2020. HuffPost’s Daniel Marans: “The DNC plans to bar employees and officers from publicly endorsing any presidential candidates throughout what is expected to be a crowded intraparty competition for the job of taking on President Donald Trump.”

MIDDLE-CLASS MEMBERS — How do you run for Congress if you lack deep pockets? Some strategies from candidates from this cycle and years past, from The Center for Public Integrity’s Ashley Balcerzak, include paying yourself a wage, working and campaigning, hiring family members, knowing what’s “fair game” to spend campaign cash on, paying for child care, and using volunteers.

CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We’re past 50/50. We’re probably 63, 64 percent,” Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper when asked how close he was to running for president, to CNN.

About The Author : Zach Montellaro

Zach Montellaro is a campaign reporter and the author of the Morning Score. Before joining the campaign team he was the producer for POLITICO Playbook and co-authored the Playbook Power Briefing. He also previously worked at National Journal on the Hotline team.

Zach is an alumnus of The George Washington University. He’s also a native New Yorker and is perpetually disappointed by the New York Mets.